News Archive - 22 March 2014

>The newspaper said its report on the operation, code-named "Shotgiant," was based on NSA documents provided by Edward Snowden, the former agency contractor who since last year has leaked data revealing sweeping U.S. surveillance activities. The German magazine Der Spiegel also reported on the documents.One of the goals...

>The letter from Democratic senators and one independent, was identical to one sent to Obama earlier this week by the House of Representatives, asking that he insist on a final agreement in which Iran would not be able to build or buy a nuclear weapon.The House letter was signed...

Ford’s assessment differs from the one Obama administration presented when it insisted that embattled leader’s days numbered

>By Warren Strobel, Anna Yukhananov and Lesley WroughtonWASHINGTON, March 22 (Reuters) - U.S. sanctions this week against Russia were carefully crafted in an attempt to target President Vladimir Putin's inner circle without provoking a backlash from Moscow against U.S. businesses, senior U.S. officials said.Concerns about possible...

We witness with dismay indicators of a return to the Cold War in Russia’s interventions in The Crimea. Before we polish our military boots, we should ponder our own adventures in recent decades as we addressed humanitarian crises, presumably calling for our own interventions.

Students continue to protest en masse at Egyptian universities, but the military and security forces are closing in on them.

London's annual Human Rights Watch Film Festival shows dramas, documentaries and short films with the aim of spreading ideas and information – about oppression and resistance, about equality and tolerance, about the worldwide struggle for freedom.

March 22, 2014 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan's National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) has captured a key member of an Israeli spy network active in the country's eastern state of the Red Sea, according to a newspaper report. The Saturday issue of pro-government Al-Intibaha daily newspaper quoted a reliable source as...

Britons see Russia in a more positive light than the European Union, despite recent tensions with Moscow over Ukraine, according to a poll published on Saturday. Voters in Britain are also equally divided about whether to remain in the 28-member bloc, a subject on which Prime Minister David Cameron has...

Traditional dance forms such as the zapin should not be tampered with just to suit contemporary tastes, writes Anwardi Jamil

Informants gave Israel intel that facilitated attacks on Sudanese soil in 2009 and 2012, according to local reports.

Nearly three-quarters of people do not believe David Cameron will be able to deliver on his promise to claw back powers from the EU, according to a poll.

What is it about Western leaders from Neville Chamberlain to George W. Bush who want to find good in men of bad character? Acting as if he were endowed by special insight bestowed upon no one else, President George W.

Tensions continue to escalate between Russia and the United States over the former’s takeover of the Crimean portion of Ukraine, and anxieties mount over whether Vladimir Putin’s nostalgia for the old Soviet Union means he’s poised to go further.

March 10 illustrates the point: On that day, Russian forces seized a Ukrainian navy missile station in Crimea.

A new report based on the trove of secret NSA documents leaked by Edward Snowden gives a glimpse of the agency's role in the cyber-intrigues taking place between the US and China, with files showing that the NSA hacked into Chinese router-maker Huawei's servers with the hope of gaining info...

 1:35 P.M. EDT MR. CARNEY:  Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.  Thank you for being here today for your daily briefing.  As you can see, I have a couple of guests with me today -- the President’s National Security Advisor, Ambassador Susan Rice; and the President’s Deputy National...

In 1996, nobody knew that Billy Donovan would become ... well, Billy Dono

Canada's premier said that Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to send troops into Crimea and annex it from Ukraine encourages aggrieved nations to "arm themselves to the teeth".

While no one ever lost money overestimating the capacity of the U.S. government to blunder, we cannot rule out that American officials knew exactly what they were doing when they helped provoke the cr

BERKELEY, Calif. — Retired Marine...

The NSA has been conducting a sophisticated years-long operation against Chinese tech company Huawei, including hacking into its networks, and spying on the companies' top executives, according to reports based on documents leaked by Edward Snowden . The spy agency launched operation "Shotgiant" in 2007, hacking into Huawei 's main servers...

The kidney-shaped West Bank is now so thoroughly penetrated by settlements that it resembles that organ crisscrossed by arteries and veins. Indeed, the number of settlers on the West Bank and in East Jerusalem has more than doubled since 1995 from 230,000 to more than 560,000. -Barbara Slavin, VOA

Iran's minister of transportation and urban development announced that Iran has purchased six passenger airplanes. The Mehr News Agency reports that Abbas Akhondi also said that the purchase of another three airplanes is in the works.

PAAIA's annual Nowruz reception on Capitol Hill is part of its broader effort to celebrate and foster greater understanding of Iranian culture, and to project an accurate and positive image of the Iranian American community. In attendance were ten members of Congress as well as more than a hundred and...

On the occasion of the Persian New Year, Norouz, Israeli President Shimon Peres sent a message of peace to Iranians. In an exclusive interview with Israel-based journalist Farnoush Ram for RFE/RL's Radio Farda in Jerusalem on March 19, Peres called for peaceful relations between Israel and Iran, insisting his country...

When former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's final term ended in August 2013, many Iranians at home and abroad hoped they could put his Holocaust-denying ways behind them. That hope was enhanced by incoming Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif's public notice that the government of Hassan Rouhani would not engage in...

Former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami said in his New Year's message that the year just ending could have been more glorious had house arrests and imprisonments ended, referring to the house arrest of opposition leaders MirHosein Mousavi, Zahra Rahnavard and Mehdi Karroubi and the imprisonment of political prisoners charged in...

In his latest groundbreaking book, entitled A Manufactured Crisis: The Untold Story of Iran Nuclear Scare, the historian and investigative journalist Gareth Porter catalogs a long list of false reports manufactured by Israeli intelligence agencies in order to mislead the public and pave the way for a war against Iran.

Malaysia Airline Flight 370, a Boeing 777 on the way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, simply vanished from the sky on March 8. In the two weeks since, the mystery of what happened to its 227 passengers and 12 crew members has set off a frenzy of speculation and conspiracy...

Tehran, March 22 (IANS) Iran's First Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri said Saturday that Iran has caused a crack in the wall of sanctions, hoping that it could neutralise all the sanctions.

You have got to hand it to the Iranians, when it comes to arts and crafts they really do aim high. Last year we had the "unveiling" of the unquestionably questionable F-313 "fighter " and this year we get a truly gargantuan impressionistic interpretation of a Nimitz Class super carrier,...

President Barack Obama had planned a week long trip to Europe and Saudi Arabia to highlight global progress in ridding the world of nuclear materials, soak up the positive publicity… Click to Continue »

The press conference ended abruptly with the news that satellite images detected a large object within the Southern Corridor measuring 22.5m x 13m.

The U.S. and allies are giving cash, and many say, training, to rebel forces in what many view as a last chance to turn the war against Bashar Assad's government. IRBID, Jordan — The Free Syrian Army commander, head of a moderate rebel force fighting just across the border...

(Reuters) - Islamist fighters in Syria battled President Bashar al-Assad's forces for control of a border crossing with Turkey close to the Mediterranean on Saturday, part of an offensive aimed at opening up a rebel link to the sea.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama's complex relationship with Europe faces new challenges during a weeklong trip as he tries to persuade allied leaders to hold firm in efforts to punish Russia for its incursion into Ukraine.

This week, we asked Foreign Policy Initiative Co-Founder Dan Senor to answer five questions. Dan will join the discussion on our powerhouse roundtable Sunday on “This Week.” 1) How would you grade President Obama in terms of his overall foreign policy? Recall the foreign policy goals...

Iraqi leader Al Maliki had accused Saudi and Qatar of openly funding Sunni insurgents        

The former Demorcratic president and the Arizona Republican senator looked like old buddies at Friday’s event.

President must be Christian and there are eight leading candidates

    A political analyst and ecological network scientist have created a visual map of the Syrian conflict, the players involved and their various agendas. The creators hope the platform can, as more experts from across the Middle East contribute, help policy makers, analysts and diplomats find a solution. "At...

QUETTA (Pakistan): A multi-vehicle collision involving two trucks and two passenger buses on a coastal highway in southwestern Pakistan early on Saturday killed 35 people and injured 20 passengers, police said.

William Kristol and Robert Kagan and their organization, the Foreign Policy Initiative, stand out as exemplary war activists.

President Obama will take off Sunday for a tour of Europe and Saudi Arabia that will be dominated by talk of Ukraine and Syria. / Alex Menendez, AP WASHINGTON - President Obama will depart Sunday for a six-day swing through Europe and the Middle East in what is shaping up...